Every time we watch the riders set off at breakneck speed down the dizzying plunge of Bray Hill at the start of a TT race, it is nigh-on impossible to quell the feeling in the pit of the stomach that there is a good chance that one or more of them might not be coming back.
It has been rare for one of the top riders to fall victim to the vicissitudes of the course, which somehow makes it all the worse when one of the lower-order riders has an accident. After all, it happens while they are not necessarily challenging for outright glory, but merely taking part for the love of the sport.
But, every now and again, one of the top riders does come short and, this year, it was the turn of Peter Hickman who, in previous years has been one of the men to beat, with 14 victories to his name and also the outright lap record, at 136.358mph; a record that no one looked close to equalling, never mind beating, this year.
Happily, Hickman escaped the 140mph crash with nothing worse than extensive bruising, but it was the end of his TT for 2025. Similarly, Michael Rutter, seven-time TT winner, also came short in the Supertwin race and suffered a fractured spine and other injuries, thankfully none of them life-threatening.
But these were mere side-stories to the main action of practice and race week, with anticipation high up and down the paddock. Sadly, however, this wasn’t a TT to remember, the weather proving particularly inclement, adversely affecting both practice week and race week, the main victim being the cancellation of the closing Senior TT on the last Saturday of the meeting. For once, it wasn’t the rain that stopped play but the high and unpredictable winds, which caused so much havoc over the mountain section of the circuit.
As in previous years, there were several riders who were the focus of attention, being the most likely to take wins from the various classes. In 2025, the riders most likely were Davey Todd, Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison, who pretty much made the podium celebrations their own in the solo classes, while the Crowe brothers took both sidecar race wins.
The week started with the Superbike race, the victory in which is, along with the Senior TT, one of the races every rider wants on their CV. Davey Todd beat Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison. Dunlop then prevailed in the first Supersport race, with Harrison second and James Hiller making his only trip to the podium for the week.
Harrison then took the first Superstock race, ahead of Davey Todd and Dunlop, while Dunlop was unstoppable in the pair of SuperTwin races. The second Supersport race saw Dunlop increase his win tally to an incredible 33 wins, only a year after breaking his Uncle Joey’s record of 26 wins.
Harrison took victory in the second Superstock race, with Todd and Dunlop joining him on the podium. The Senior TT was shaping up to be a real humdinger, but the weather put paid to that, bringing an end to a difficult week, weather-wise.
Of course, this is all very interesting, but the real news for the fans in South Africa was that, again, we had our very own rider taking part. Allann (AJ) Venter was back at the TT, this time with significant backing from Johannesburg-based FuturExotics owner, Zunaid Moti. The huge injection of cash to Venter’s TT aspirations will see him at the TT for at least the next two years, and he has to be hoping for better fortune next year.
For any privateer, saddle time in road racing conditions is difficult if they don’t live in the country where it takes place. AJ had some valuable saddle time at the North West 200 races in Ireland, which are the traditional warm-up races for the TT, but his running at the TT itself would have been seriously hampered by the dreadful weather on the Isle of Man, which curtailed the normal practice schedule. Of all the circuits in the world, the Mountain Course is the one for which you need the maximum preparation, no matter how many times you have ridden in anger there.
Having said that, AJ’s TT was by no means unsuccessful. He took 15th place in the opening Superbike TT, 25th in the first Supersport race, 21st in the first Superstock race, 12th in the first SuperTwins race and 24th in the second Superstock race. In the other races, he was forced to retire through mechanical maladies.
Perhaps not the TT he was hoping for, but he can come home with the satisfaction of posting his fastest ever lap of the TT, at 126.649mph. What is even better is that, given the sponsorship lifeline provided by Moti, AJ can really concentrate on preparations for the next two years without the stress of wondering how to finance it all.
When he returns, we’ll be sure to catch up with him and get the full story, which promises to be as fascinating as ever.
So, that was TT 2025, seemingly here and gone in a flash, and, despite the best efforts of the weather, the racing, when it happened, was as mesmerising as ever, the memorable moments veering between heart-in-the-mouth incidents and the sheer insane speed. Throughout it all, the heroes are the riders, the heroines the bikes and the evil menace waiting to catch them all out being the Mountain Course, 37 ¾ miles of the purest racing experience you’ll ever witness.
